Tick Fauna of Small Ruminants in South Part of

Serbia, with Emphasis to North Kosovo

Ivan PAVLOVIĆ1*, Valentina MILANOVIĆ2, Bisa RADOVIĆ2, Snežana IVANOVIĆ1, Milan P. PETROVIĆ3,
Violeta CARO-PETROVIĆ3, Jovan BOJKOVSKI4

1
Scientific Veterinary Institute of Serbia, Belgrade, Serbia
2
Faculty of Agriculture, Lesak, University of Pristina, Kosovska Mitrovica, Serbia
3
Institute for animal Husbandru, Beograd-Zemun, Serbia
4
Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University in Belgrade, Belgrade, Serbia
* corresponding author: dripavlovic58@gmail.com

Bulletin UASVM Veterinary Medicine 77(1)/2020

Print ISSN 1843-5270; Electronic ISSN 1843-5378
doi:10.15835/buasvmcn-vm: 2019.0034

Abstract
The study regarding tick fauna and season distribution of ticks of small ruminant in the south part of Serbia,
with emphasis on north Kosovo was performed during 2017. During the study we examined a total of 114 flocks of
goats and sheep from Zvečan and Leposavić districts (villages Ceranja, Majdevo, Zemanica, Mure, Rudine, Žitkovac,
Oraovica, Mošnica, Donji Krnjin, Belo brdo, Mioliće, Drenova and Beliće). Infections occurred at and on 56.14% of
examined sheep and 31.42% of examined goats. The most abudant tick species were Ixodes ricinus, followed by
Dermacentor marginatus, Rhipicephalus sanguineus, R.bursa, Haemaphysalis punctata and D.recticulatus.

Keywords: ticks, goats, sheep, south Serbia, north Kosovo

Introduction Milutinović et al., 1998). The aim of our examination

Breeding of small ruminants in the hilly and
mountainous areas of Serbia has a long tradition
and is well developed. Nowadays small flocks of
sheep and goats play an important role in providing
animal protein for diet, especially for local people
who live there. Sheep and goats are milked and
they produce the bulk milk supply, together with
a large proportion of the meat is being consumed
(Ivanović and Pavlović, 2015).
They are usually kept under extensive
conditions and graze or brows on any land that
is not being cultivated (Pavlović et al., 2009).
Usually these are small herds where goats and
sheep are kept together. The way of breeding may
have prerequisite to several infections including
ticks infestation. In pasture breed conditions tick
infestations are common especially during late
spring and autumn months (Pavlović et al., 1995;
was to establish the tick fauna parasitizing on
flocks of goats and sheep in the south part of
Serbia, with emphasis on north Kosovo (which
status is in accordance with UNSCR 1244 and the
Opinion of the International Court of Justice on the
Kosovo Declaration of Independence).
Materials and methods
During 2017 we examined flocks of small
ruminants from Zvečan and Leposavić districts,
in villages Ceranja, Majdevo, Zemanica, Rudine,
Žitkovac, Mure, Oraovica, Mošnica, Donji Krnjin,
Belo brdo, Mioliće, Drenova and Beliće (Figure 1).
The geographical conditions in the examined
area are favourable for breeding small ruminants
because of the large number of pastures suitable
for grazing. The relief is characterized by plateaus,
hilly land, hills, mountains, numerous mountain
Tick Fauna of Small Ruminants in South Part of Serbia, with Emphasis to North Kosovo
ranges (saddles), valleys and rivers with a number
of smaller tributaries. Flat land is rare. The
continental climate is prevalent throughout the
whole area with cold, relatively dry winters and
warm, humid summers.
Figure 1. Map of Serbia with marked research area
In total, we examined 426 sheep and 172
goats from 114 flocks. The study about tick fauna
and season distribution of tick was started in
March and finished in October 2017. Ticks were
collected monthly.
Ticks collected on pasture from sheep
and goats by means lightly sprung forceps. All
specimens were placed into glass specimen bottles
which had a piece of hard paper inserted bearing
the name of locality name of host and date and
hour of collection. Colleagues who sampled ticks
sent only adult ticks so we didn’t get development
forms for examination.
The tick species and sex were identified by
morphometric characteristics. Each species has
identifying features that are most distinguishable
39
in the adult stage. They can be identified based
on the festoons on the edge of the abdominal
area, the appearance of the dorsal shield, and the
shape of the mouth parts. Size can also be used in
identification. For identification we use keys given
by Pomerancev (1950) and Kapustin (1955).
Results and discussions
Ticks were found in all examined flocks.
Ixodes ricinus were found on 42.45% of examined
animals; same for the following by Dermacentor
marginatus found in 17.41%, Rhipicephalus bursa
in 16.72%, R.sanguineus in 6.22%, Haemaphysalis
punctata in 3.71% and D.recticulatus in 2.17% .
In total we collected 1774 ticks, 1274 from sheep
and 500 from goats. The number of specimens of
identified tick species per examined host is shown
in Table 1.
On sheep tick infestation was detected in
56.14% of examined animals. The most abundant
species was Ixodes ricinus found on 44.91%,
followed by Dermacentor marginatus (30.91%),
Rhipicephalus bursa (15.22%), R.sanguineus
(7.72%), Haemaphysalis punctata (3.21%) and
D.recticulatus (2.17%). The results are presented
at Figure 2. During the examination, ticks were
found on 31.42% of examined goats. The most
abundant species was I. ricinus found on 42%,
followed by Rhipicephalus bursa (18.22%), R.
sanguineus (4.72%), Haemaphysalis punctata
(4.22%) and Dermacentor marginatus (3.91%).
The results are presented in Figure 3.
Of the total number of collected ticks, 53.85%
were females and 46.15% were males. A higher
number of females were detected for Ixodes ricinus,
Haemaphysalis punctata, Rhipicephalus sanguineus
and Dermacentor marginatus. Higher number of
males was detected for Rhipicephalus bursa and
an equal number of ticks of the D.recticulatus.
This is in agreement with the research of the
tick sex ratio that have been made around the
world (Milutinović, 1992; Milutinović et al., 1997;
Anderson and Magnarelli, 2008).
In temperate habitats, feeding and generation
cycles of hard ticks are closely synchronised with
periods of suitable temperature and humidity
conditions (Carrol and Kramer, 2003; Anderson
and  Magnarelli, 2008). The considerable inter­
change between spring and autumn tick popula-
tions can be attributed mainly to environmental
conditions. In general, the climate in the exam-
Bulletin UASVM Veterinary Medicine 77 (1) / 2020
40 PAVLOVIĆ et al.

Table 1. The number of specimens of identified tick species per examined host

HOSTS
TICK SPECIES TOTAL
sheep goats
Ixodes ricinus 425 122 547
Dermacentor marginatus 282 67 349
Rhipicephalus bursa 174 124 298
Rhipicephalus sanguineus 1000 74 174
Haemaphysalis punctata 229 82 311
Dermacentor recticulatus 64 31 95
TOTAL 1274 300 1774

Figure 2. Distribution of tick species in sheep

Figure 3. Distribution of tick species on goats

Bulletin UASVM Veterinary Medicine 77 (1) / 2020

Tick Fauna of Small Ruminants in South Part of Serbia, with Emphasis to North Kosovo
ined area is continental, with cold, relatively dry
winters and warm, humid summers. Summer
temperatures in the mountainous areas are no-
tably cooler, averaging about 18°C with up to 120
days of annual snow cover in the mountains. For
these reasons, some species occur later than in the
lowland and hilly parts of Serbia. The population
dynamics of recorded tick species are known for
their two maxima a year - in spring (April - May)
and in autumn (September - October).
The population maximum for three species
Dermacentor marginatus, D.recticulatus as well as
Haemaphysalis punctata occured in April. May was
the month of the population peak for I.ricinus and
it was noted that this species started to decrease
in abundance in June. R.hipicephalus sanguineus
and R.bursa reached their maxima decreasing in
August, and disappearing completely in September
and October. The autumn population peak in
September and in October occurred for I. ricinus,
Dermacentor marginatus and Haemaphysalis
punctata (Figure 4).
Similar results we obtained during examina­
tion of ticks fauna in western and eastern part of
Serbia where I. ricinus and D. marginatus are the
Figure 4. The population dynamics of collected tick species
41
dominant tick species on sheep (Milutinović et al.,
1996; Milutinović et al., 1998).
At the same time in the investigated areas at
the goat I. ricinus and H. punctata were the most
abundant species in contrast on Belgrade area and
south Serbia where, except I. ricinus, the second
dominant species was R. bursa (Milutinović et al.,
1997; Dimitrić, 1999, Pavlović et al., 1999; Pavlović
et al., 2002; Becskei et al., 2015).
The found species of ticks are the most
common on sheep and goats in other coutries
in the Balkans – North Macedonia, Montenegro
and Bosnia and Hercegovina (Omeragić, 2011;
Pavlović et al., 1995; Pavlović et al., 2014; Pavlović
et al., 2016a, Pavlović et al., 2016c) and in Romania
(Dumitrache et al., 2012, Mihalca et al., 2012).
Conclusion
During 2017 we examined 114 flocks of small
ruminants from southern part of Serbia, at north
Kosovo. Infection occurred at and on 56.14% of
examined sheep and 31.42% of examined goats.
Ticks represent one of the indispensable elements
of that specific biotop.
Bulletin UASVM Veterinary Medicine 77 (1) / 2020
42
Acknowledgments. This research work was
carried out with the support of Ministry of
Education, Science and Technology Development
and was financed from Project BT 31053.
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